I have been doing mystery shopping for about 8 months part time. I do between 1 and 3 assignments a week when I can. How many assignments does the "full time" shopper do per week and what is the expected annual income? I have seen some great advice about route planning etc. which makes me think that some folks are doing 5-6 per day. The company I work for seems to be going out of business and I was wondering if I can make a real living at this. I look forward to your thoughts! Thanks.

You are going to get a billion answers for this.

A modest living can be made doing this - you won't get rich and you'll have to provide your own health benefits. The actual amount of money you make will depend greatly on where you live and how far you are willing to travel. Full time shoppers generally travel through multiple states and do a lot of video shopping. I am certain that somebody, once established, could bring in $50K-$60K annually. I would also believe there are a handful of folks who do better than that. (Many video assignments never get posted or advertised, so nobody really knows how many companies offer them or how many assignments there might be...)

I only do this part time and am trying to get to the point where I average about $2K a month. I've hit $4K in months I have off work. However, I am only really just starting to work with a few companies that offer lucrative opportunities and I have not shopped out of state.

How many shops a full time shopper will do varies. Some folks will do twenty (or more) low-paying quick shops in a day. Others will do just a couple larger shops in the same day. I try to pick up one afternoon/evening shop each work day and build a route about half the days I'm off work.

If I plan my routes, and I am diligent to check with all my companies at least every other day, then I can average 4-5 minimal paying jobs per day. I try not to schedule that many because most are quite a drive to get to and the reports can be involving anywhere from 35 minutes to several hours to complete on time.

Traveling distances can be exhausting, and you want to remember when routing and scheduling your Shops to plan in some relaxed time for reports including writing in the deadlines for your reports, and appropriate travel time - allowing for a flat tire or some other emergency to drop into your lap. Make sure you keep phone numbers, emails, login id's and passwords with you for the MSC's (and your contact person there) you're contracted with for the day(s) you're on the road.

I keep a water-resistant file folder in my trunk with the ICA's and the Guidelines and Questionnaires for those companies with whom I contract on a regular basis. I take this in the house with me once or twice a week to make sure I have the most up-to-date version. This way, if I find I have free time on my hands, no matter where I am I can look for and self-assign a Shop(s), and I will more than likely have a print of the Guidelines to review before I do it.

Along with that file folder, inside a box (over time) I have gathered and keep basic "Shop" supplies:
- stapler/staples, pens, paperclips, highlighters, permanent markers, etc.
- notebook paper
- clipboard
- lanyard
- a bright safety vest
- leather safety and rubber gloves
- boots with steel toes
- tape measurer
- change of clothing for business, business casual, and "relaxed" everyday clothing (from the skin out)
- toiletries and extra medicines I take on a daily basis in case I have to make an emergency overnight stay
- basic first-aid supplies including a wrap for sprains (yes, I have needed them, I've badly sprained an ankle while walking on ice that had been covered by snow)i
- extra drinking water, food: peanut butter and crackers, bite-size candy bars, granola and protein bars, dried fruit, etc.
- blanket, shovel, extra fluids for your car


An FYI - I have found my best daily Shop tools to be:
***** Smartphone with at least a 132g MicroSD - pictures, video, and voice recordings can be huge files and take up a lot of space.
***** A small portable charger for the phone, which has at least 5200 - 5500 Mghz, allowing for at least two recharges for your phone.
***** Laptop
***** Printer with scanning ability.
***** Microsoft Office, or similar
***** Paper map for the occasions you lose your GPS signal on your phone while in hills, valleys, and mountains, or when your phone battery dies.
***** My spreadsheets I've created to keep track of my Shops, income, expenses, etc., which I can access via my phone through a cloud service while I'm on the road. This helps alleviate some of the time one spends at home doing any "paperwork" for your business if you can input these as they come along.
***** Apps:
voice recorder helps jog the memory as you do your reports.
stopwatch with a lap helps to log your timing details for some shops.
Google Maps or similar.

As you know those deadlines can be "killers" if you're having to do more than one or two in a day, the website for the MSC goes down, or some other emergency comes up. Most companies I've worked with allow at least 8 hours, some only two hours, others until noon the next day, and still, others graciously allow a full 24-hour deadline. There are those who require you complete the report in an app, as you complete the Shop. Take this into account and plan it into your calendar day for Shops.

Seems long, but there may be items I am missing or just put on the lists because of the region of the USA in which I live.
The best advice I have is don't expect it to make a living for you, but accept when you have made more than you need (to cover your obligations) as a blessing. Have fun, and if you're on the road for any length of time, try to give yourself time to stop and see new sights along the way. I saw some gorgeous landscapes yesterday and spent about 90 minutes or so just absorbing it all, breathing, and taking pictures.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2018 11:10PM by WendyG10.

It takes a long time to build up to the point where someone can make a living at this. I suggest you use it as a stop-gap to tide you over until you get a regular job. Remember, you have no health or other benefits when you're working for yourself.

How many varies. I did 17 shops on Tuesday, 1 yesterday (yes, that scheduler now owes me a favor), and won't do any over the weekend. I'm waiting for a few to better bonus for next week; it's the end of the month and the end of a quarter so I'm anticipating working more next week. Then I picked up a boatload of gas shops for the first week of next month, so am looking at filling in some holes. It all depends, though. You can do a dozen 10 minute gas shops in less time than one targeted apartment shop. Find your niche.

@iShop123 wrote:

It takes a long time to build up to the point where someone can make a living at this. I suggest you use it as a stop-gap to tide you over until you get a regular job. Remember, you have no health or other benefits when you're working for yourself.

This depends on what you consider being at the point of making a living. If you are currently piecing together minimum wage jobs, within a few months, if you put a good effort forth and have transportation, you can do better shopping. If you are trying to replaced six figures plus benefits, that is a totally different thing.

@iShop123 wrote:

You can do a dozen 10 minute gas shops in less time than one targeted apartment shop. Find your niche.

I disagree with this completely, especially once you figure in time to drive to all those gas stations.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate the insight!

@rrannala wrote:

How many assignments does the "full time" shopper do per week and what is the expected annual income?

The dreaded question. At least you phrased it significantly better than most instead of just outright asking how much people make. Here's a better idea though. State how much you need to make and ask what needs to be done to attain that. You will also need to give an idea of where you live, how far and how long you are willing to travel, and if you have ever run a business before.

@MFJohnston wrote:

This depends on what you consider being at the point of making a living. If you are currently piecing together minimum wage jobs, within a few months, if you put a good effort forth and have transportation, you can do better shopping. If you are trying to replaced six figures plus benefits, that is a totally different thing.

Yep. I was doing this full time 3-4 months into. Necessity is the mother of invention. And making a business work.

@iShop123 wrote:

You can do a dozen 10 minute gas shops in less time than one targeted apartment shop. Find your niche.

I disagree with this completely, especially once you figure in time to drive to all those gas stations.[/quote]

Including reporting I have to agree with iShop. I was doing routes of gas station shops averaging 3.5 per hour including drive time and reports were done when I left. 10 would be slightly less than than 3 hours. Apartment reports take me forever (see thread about writting reports). Even a video apartment shop would pay less than what 3 of the gas station shops paid.

Thanks for responding. I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I don't have a problem with travel in the region as long as it is lucrative. In terms of income I need to target $75 to $100k minimum to make this viable. While I have conducted more than a few shops that paid > $100, the majority I see are in the $10-$30 range. I have indeed owned and managed several businesses before. I hope this gives you enough info to provide some guidance. Thanks in advance!

@bgriffin wrote:

[Including reporting I have to agree with iShop. I was doing routes of gas station shops averaging 3.5 per hour including drive time and reports were done when I left. 10 would be slightly less than than 3 hours. Apartment reports take me forever (see thread about writting reports). Even a video apartment shop would pay less than what 3 of the gas station shops paid.

Interesting.... Around here, it would be tough to find three gas station shops (at roughly $8 each) close enough that I could get them in a single hour. Whereas I have plenty of apartments at $50+.... Regional differences....

$75K-$100K..... I suspect that there are very few shoppers who pull this in.... I don't know everything about the MS world by any stretch, but, I would think that it would take a couple of years to find all the needed contacts and convinced those contacts of your ability and reliability before you could get enough regular lucrative work to do pull in those numbers.

@rrannala wrote:

Thanks for responding. I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I don't have a problem with travel in the region as long as it is lucrative. In terms of income I need to target $75 to $100k minimum to make this viable. While I have conducted more than a few shops that paid > $100, the majority I see are in the $10-$30 range. I have indeed owned and managed several businesses before. I hope this gives you enough info to provide some guidance. Thanks in advance!

@rrannala wrote:

Thanks for responding. I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I don't have a problem with travel in the region as long as it is lucrative. In terms of income I need to target $75 to $100k minimum to make this viable. While I have conducted more than a few shops that paid > $100, the majority I see are in the $10-$30 range. I have indeed owned and managed several businesses before. I hope this gives you enough info to provide some guidance. Thanks in advance!

There are people who make that. There are not many. And it would require travelling more than just regionally.

To put that into some perspective, that would be clearing between $1500 and $2000 per week. If you work 5 days a week that's clearing between $300 and $400 per day after expenses. When I travel I estimate $200 a day in expenses and that averages out to be pretty spot on. So you need we'll call it $550 in shop fees per day. That would require video only most likely. 10 retail shops or 6 new home shops would get that. While that is certainly doable, it is not likely doable for 50 solid weeks a year and I have met very few shoppers with the ability to schedule that well that consistently.

So yeah, it's doable, but would likely require more travel than you would be willing to do.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Interesting.... Around here, it would be tough to find three gas station shops (at roughly $8 each) close enough that I could get them in a single hour. Whereas I have plenty of apartments at $50+.... Regional differences....

I could do apartment shops at $50 too, but I don't. 1/2 Hour onsite, 1 1/2 hour for report. I'm at 2 hours for $50. If gas stations are on the board at $8 you could probably get $10 which means 5 of those in 2 hours is the same. And I don't like reports.....

Full time Shopping, I did 35 a week x 4... so...130 a month. Now with my full time job, I average one a day or two and on my days off around 3-4. So now... around 40 a month, some days busier.

Thanks, this is helpful!

@MFJohnston wrote:

@iShop123 wrote:

You can do a dozen 10 minute gas shops in less time than one targeted apartment shop. Find your niche.

I disagree with this completely, especially once you figure in time to drive to all those gas stations.

I suppose it depends on how close they are together. For the ones I'm doing on the first, ten of them are within six miles of each other. That's $ and a tankful of gas for less than three hours' work (including reporting). I'll probably fill in a few more of the simpler shops and still be home in time for lunch.

I also took a ton of the freeway gas shops, anchored them with a hotel and one other high-paying shop that pays time and mileage. So I'll be getting paid by the company to drive to the last shop plus I'll be funding my gasoline on the way.

It's one of the benefits of mystery shopping. We can all make it work in the way that best suits us. I doubt I could be one of the $50k+ shoppers simply because I lack the attention span for multiple narrative-heavy assignments in one day.

I top out at about 12 per day. Real shops. With real narratives. However, often less than that. Usually about 4-6 per day. Generally 5-7 days per week.

@bgriffin wrote:

@rrannala wrote:

Thanks for responding. I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I don't have a problem with travel in the region as long as it is lucrative. In terms of income I need to target $75 to $100k minimum to make this viable. While I have conducted more than a few shops that paid > $100, the majority I see are in the $10-$30 range. I have indeed owned and managed several businesses before. I hope this gives you enough info to provide some guidance. Thanks in advance!

There are people who make that. There are not many. And it would require travelling more than just regionally.

To put that into some perspective, that would be clearing between $1500 and $2000 per week. If you work 5 days a week that's clearing between $300 and $400 per day after expenses. When I travel I estimate $200 a day in expenses and that averages out to be pretty spot on. So you need we'll call it $550 in shop fees per day. That would require video only most likely. 10 retail shops or 6 new home shops would get that. While that is certainly doable, it is not likely doable for 50 solid weeks a year and I have met very few shoppers with the ability to schedule that well that consistently.

So yeah, it's doable, but would likely require more travel than you would be willing to do.

You can't make that much. I don't know anyone who makes that much, even with routes, even with 20 years in the business. I do a lot of work for the lifestyle enhancement. In fees, my best year was probably $50,000. My reimbursements in a calendar year have been over $100,000 at least 5 times.

Working 5 days a week, that's $400 a day. I do have $400-$500 days, but then I am working many hours. It's not an 8 hour day. It could be a 16 hour day. There are exceptions. I have a couple of projects that allow for a shorter day and a lot of money. You would not be able to line up enough $500 days in a row unless you get some sort of magical project. You could do it occassionally, but not consistently. You would have to travel a lot. You'd need good connections. You might have to do video. I don't do video. Casinos would be one of the better jobs, but you'd need to have the jobs that let you keep the winnings. You'd also have to win. Casinos are exhausting.

I know 2 or 3 people who make that much. I could make that much if I wanted to. I happen to like this gig because I only work about 3/4 time and still make ok money. But yeah, I could up it to 50 weeks a year and hit that. I am one of the rare people who basically only do video and also could travel 50 weeks a year. Not many people like that out there.

I personally could never make a living out of Mystery Shopping. I do not shop week-ends. My shops are mostly within a short distance from me. I do route shopping about twice a month. I try for 2 or 3 shops in a day. I do not shop any shops for under $10. I usually make about $400 a month which is great for me, I am on SS.

@shopper8 wrote:

I personally could never make a living out of Mystery Shopping. I do not shop week-ends. My shops are mostly within a short distance from me. I do route shopping about twice a month. I try for 2 or 3 shops in a day. I do not shop any shops for under $10. I usually make about $400 a month which is great for me, I am on SS.

I, too, am on SS, and only do this part-time. I, too, do not work weekends, and mainly don't work on Friday. I average $200/mo because I want to. Years ago, I did a lot more MSing and easily averaged $1200.00/month. Now....I just work where and when I want to. If I HAD to increase my income with MSing, I easily could, but right now, I don't really want to.

MFJ, there are 50 gas stations of just one particular brand within a 20 mile radius of where I live. If I counted the other brands it would be more like 200. I can make a short afternoon route of 10-15 shops and it only takes me a few minutes to drive to each location and on to the next, and I do it without even putting 20 miles on my odometer.

@MFJohnston wrote:

@iShop123 wrote:

@iShop123 wrote:

You can do a dozen 10 minute gas shops in less time than one targeted apartment shop. Find your niche.

I disagree with this completely, especially once you figure in time to drive to all those gas stations.

Yup, geography and population are a huge factor in what's possible.

@MFJohnston wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

[Including reporting I have to agree with iShop. I was doing routes of gas station shops averaging 3.5 per hour including drive time and reports were done when I left. 10 would be slightly less than than 3 hours. Apartment reports take me forever (see thread about writting reports). Even a video apartment shop would pay less than what 3 of the gas station shops paid.

Interesting.... Around here, it would be tough to find three gas station shops (at roughly $8 each) close enough that I could get them in a single hour. Whereas I have plenty of apartments at $50+.... Regional differences....

I could also consider doing reveal audits at gas stations, which would increase potential.... I just don't like reveal assignments.... Besides, I type well, which makes long reports less burdensome for me than what many folks experience.

I'm with you on the reveal audits. I don't do them unless they are highly bonused and I have never done one at a gas station. I do believe at the gas stations they are time consuming, while the shops are quick and easy. The MSC that I do the mystery shops for won't allow you to do both anyway. Once you have done an audit you no longer qualify for the mystery shops at that brand.

Shopping weekends is certainly not a requirement for making a living. I've found just the opposite. Some of the more lucrative shops don't allow weekends and even when they do it can be the biggest waste of time. I don't get paid for waiting around, looking for parking or driving in heavier traffic.

My job, benefits, perks would never be given up voluntarily for MS. I know I could never, ever make what I do now with MS. Although it varies, I average 1 or 2 jobs per week in the colder months and an unpredictable amount albeit low in the warmer months. I could get out some more for lunch but find myself too busy and harried to do a high stress but otherwise easy job for a nice lunch. The crowds here are so annoying!

I know it's very low compared to most of you all. For the past two weeks, I have chosen to do nothing. Have fine dining shops scheduled for the next two Fridays. That's enough for me.

If I had a "regular" job I wouldn't do that much shopping, either.

It's a balance because I juggle a full-time job and exercise and friends. But I like to sneak in up to 3 shops a day, take a break, then sneak in a few more. So I don't get burnt out, so I always have a little extra income coming in. I try not to do anything on weekends.